Tick, tick, tick, tick. That sound you hear is the clock winding down on the life of the Windows XP operating system. As of today, you have less than two years left until Microsoft will no longer support the OS. Two years may sound like a long time, but if you haven?t even begun to consider migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7, the pressure is on.

Your Windows XP systems will still work the same as they have for the last decade. But, as of April 8, 2014 Microsoft will no longer support the operating system, or provide patches or security updates. So, from that point forward the OS will become increasingly unstable and insecure. Essentially, you?ll be on your own.

With time winding down on Windows XP and Office 2003, software and hardware vendors may already jump ship. As time goes on, more and more new products will not include support for Windows XP or Office 2003, and third-party vendors will be less likely to support or update older products designed for these legacy platforms.

By the way, Office 2003 is on its deathbed as well. For larger companies, the process of testing and deploying a new desktop operating system to hundreds or thousands of users is a meticulous process that takes months, or even years.